P25 wage hike for NCR insulting

The militant labor center Kilusang Mayo Uno (KMU) today said the decision released by the National Capital Region (NCR) Regional Tripartite Wages and Productivity Board (RTWPB) issuing an increase of P25 for Metro Manila based minimum wage earners is “an insult to all workers,” as another round of oil price increase today is expected to push the existing daily cost of living of P748 to higher levels.

“NCR wage board director Ricardo Martinez already admitted that the P25 wage hike is a compromise decision to appease employers. With this, workers have no reasons to be satisfied at all. Last year, the wage board also granted a P25 wage hike for minimum wage earners in the Metro with Wage Order no. 11, but still, the assertion for more significant wage adjustments continued. If not for Malacanang’s loyalty to big business and employers, the Congress would have passed the P125 legislated wage increase across-the-board for all workers nationwide,” said KMU Secretary General Joel Maglunsod.

He said that KMU never expected the regional wage boards to grant a substantial wage adjustment. “Wage boards were put up precisely to serve the economic interests of employers and hoodwink the workers. While we are demanding for the abolition of the regional wage boards, labor groups like the Trade Union Congress of the Philippines (TUCP) swallows hook, line and sinker the wage board trap. The wage board serves as one of the stumbling block against any legislated wage hike for workers.”

“Legislated wage increase is still the way to go because wage boards could only provide measly wage adjustments and emergency cost of living allowances (ECOLA). The P25 increase can only go as far as a kilo of rice or 2 cans of sardines. The arms of poverty grip not only minimum wage earners, but also those who earn more than the minimum wage. Though we are poor, we are not beggars, do not give us alms. Give workers what is due to them and their families,” Maglunsod further said.

The labor group said that despite the P350 minimum wage and ECOLA in NCR, it is not enough to cover the P748 family living wage estimated by the National Wages and Productivity Commission (NWPC) for a family of six in Metro Manila. “Even if a family has two breadwinners, their combined earnings are not enough to cover the cost for food expenditures and other daily expenses which now amounts P748,” said KMU Spokesperson Presto Suyat.

Suyat said that the government again gave in to the whims of employers who are refusing a legislated wage hike that will fortify the Filipino workers’ fight for a national minimum wage and will deem worthless the regional wage boards that were put up to accommodate the interests of employers in the wage determination process.”